Combination dust pan and trash receptacle lid

ABSTRACT

A combination dust pan and trash receptacle lid having a leading edge on a shallow side, said lid having a handle on its outer convex surface, said handle sized such that said leading edge is positioned optimally when said lid is removed from said receptacle and placed on a surface in its upturned position for use as a dust pan.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to household tools and appliances, namely dust pans and trash receptacles.

STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENTAL ASSISTANCE

Applicant hereby represents that no part of the subject invention or application has come about with the assistance of government funds or by virtue of a government program.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many differing trash receptacles and dust pans have been designed in the past; most, if not all separately.

Typically, when sweeping up debris, a pan of some sort is lowered to the ground so that the person performing the sweeping may collect the debris as much as possible for disposal into some sort of receptacle.

For the most part, a simple dust pan is employed in such activities. The receptacle used for the containment of the collected debris may be of many different shapes and sizes. For those persons who are more organized than others, they may have a special place where they keep such items such as the dustpan, broom or trash receptacle; for others, a routine search may be necessary to locate the dustpan in order to continue with or complete routine collection and disposal of debris or trash.

In some cases, various shelf type racks have been designed to be employed to keep broom and dustpan where they can be found when necessary, often being mounted in a laundry room or a garage on a convenient wall. Usually, such a combination may or may not be located near the trash receptacle which will ultimately hold the trash or debris until later collected by the local municipality or its agent for final disposal.

Not uncommon is the circumstance where cleaning is being performed with debris being swept or otherwise collected, and the person doing the cleaning cannot locate the dust pan. In such circumstances, many alternate objects may be substituted though with less efficiency.

In the case of trash receptacles, many exist today with pivoting lids; some being removable and some not removable. The advantage of pivoting lid primarily being that such lids can be simply pushed aside to allow entry into said receptacle without having to first remove the lid and then replace it. This results in increased speed in discarding of debris into the receptacle as well as limiting both the necessity of employing two hands in addition to exposure to contact with debris already contained in the receptacle.

What is generally acknowledged as needed is improved organization of cleaning implements and devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Applicant's invention employs a trash receptacle lid which can be removed from the receptacle itself and employed as an effective dust pan. By combining the dust pan as a lid for the trash receptacle, the need for a separate dust pan and a place to store it is eliminated. Furthermore, by combining these components into one, the dust pan is always located proximate to, indeed as part of the trash receptacle.

It is an object of the present invention to provide added convenience in routine cleaning activities around the house, kitchen, garage and even more serious settings.

In order to combine the dust pan and the trash receptacle, the lid as normally seen atop the receptacle is provided with a structure, typically an arcuate raised handle which allows the lid to be lifted out of its pivots and turned over for use as a dust pan.

The leading or shallow edge is beveled at an angle conducive to resting on the ground to have debris swept over it into the increasingly deeper part of the upturned lid.

The previously mentioned arcuate handle can also be sized in order to provide an optimum angle to the upturned lid such that the leading edge is properly positioned upon the ground.

In one embodiment of applicant's invention, a substantially tubular slot is provided to allow a handle to be inserted such that the pan can be used with a minimum of stooping.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a predisposed angle to the upturned lid to facilitate use as a dust pan as well as provision for a handle.

In another embodiment of the present invention, an extension tube is held in said tubular slot further obviating the need for an external handle. Said extension may be of a simple length of hollow plastic with a stop provided to limit its extension or may also be hinged to allow a more vertical or angled handle to be employed as the user sees fit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a frontal view of applicant's invention showing the lid in normal position atop the trash receptacle.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the combination lid and dust pan removed from the receptacle.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the combination dust pan and lid having the extension tube fully extended.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows the combined trash receptacle and dust pan lid 10, primarily comprised of receptacle 20 and lid 30.

Lid 30 has a substantially arcuate handle 40 which is typically molded into the overall lid structure. The back side of leading edge 50 is seen and is fashioned at a predetermined angle which facilitates hands free use of the lid when upturned and used as a dust pan. Seen inside the receptacle is a female pivot 55 molded into receptacle 20 to allow lid 30 to pivot therein.

FIG. 2 shows the other side of leading edge 50 which is provided at the shallower portion of lid 30. In one embodiment, male pivots 55′ are provided therein to mate with female pivots 55 provisioned in the receptacle as shown in FIG. 1. Substantially tubular slot 60 is visible in FIG. 2 with extension tube 70 recessed in slot 60. Extension tube 70 may be manually extended or reinserted. Tube 70 stays in place by virtue of a slightly tapered shape allowing it to wedge itself firmly when open. Alternate means of configuration of tube 70 include clicking into place upon reaching flexible plastic tabs, rotating in a threaded fashion with mating threads on the exterior of tube seventy and the inner surface of slot 60. Further provision of said tube and slot can include a telescoping structure not unlike that found on table or tent legs whereby a spring loaded sphere is depressed until it engages a mating spheroid receiver at which point the extension is locked.

Many differing configurations may be employed to extend, secure and replace said tube 70 in slot 60.

In another embodiment of applicant's invention, a secondary lid may be configured simply as a removable portion of the main lid, such that said secondary lid is configured as claimed, but acts as a dustpan when removed from the main lid. In this way, only a portion of the waste receptacle lid need be removed rather than the entire main lid. This is particularly useful when a waste receptacle with a large opening is employed and removing the entire main lid would be cumbersome. The secondary lid may or may not be mounted in the main lid on pivots, and in overall shape and structure would be as described hereinabove.

While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered the most practical and preferred embodiment(s), it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment(s) but, on the contrary is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope of the appended claims. 

1. A combination trash receptacle lid and dust pan comprising: a receptacle having an opening at its top; a lid of substantially the same shape as said opening, said lid having an outer surface of somewhat convex shape and an inner surface of somewhat concave shape, said lid having a leading edge of a predetermined angle fashioned into a shallow portion of said lid, said shallow portion being located opposite a deep portion or rear edge of said lid, said lid being able to be removably located in said opening, said lid also having fashioned thereon a substantially arcuate handle on its convex surface, said handle extending from said outer surface such that when said lid is upturned, said leading edge being positioned against the ground or other surface optimally for said lid to function as a dust pan.
 2. A combination trash receptacle lid and dust pan comprising: a receptacle having an opening at its top, said receptacle having a pair of opposing female pivots fashioned proximate to said opening; a lid of substantially the same shape as said opening, said lid having an outer surface of somewhat convex shape and an inner surface of somewhat concave shape, said lid having a leading edge of a predetermined angle fashioned into a shallow portion of said lid, said shallow portion being located opposite a deep portion or rear edge of said lid, said lid also having provided on its two remaining sides male pivots, said lid being able to be removably located in said receptacle with said male pivots resting in said female pivots, said lid also having fashioned thereon a substantially arcuate handle on its convex surface, said handle sized such that when said lid is upturned with said convex side resting on a surface, said leading edge is positioned optimally for said lid to function as a dust pan.
 3. The device of claim 1 further comprising: handle means for manipulating said lid when functioning as a dust pan.
 4. The device of claim 3 wherein: said handle means comprising a substantially tubular slot molded into said lid proximate to said deeper portion, an extendable tube of slightly smaller size and similar shape to said slot, said tube extendable from said slot.
 5. The device of claim 4 wherein: said tube having a stop means to prevent said tube from being pulled completely out of said slot.
 6. The device of claim 5 wherein: said stop means comprising said tube and said slot having opposing tapered predetermined lengths such that when said tube in extending to a predetermined point, the size of taper of each of said tube and slot prevent further extension.
 7. The device of claim 5 wherein: said stop means comprises a series of substantially circular cutouts positioned in said slot, said tube having retained in its surface a pair of opposing spring-loaded spheroids, said spheroids sized slightly larger than said cutouts, such that when extended, said spheroids protrude through said cutouts, positioning said tube in said slot.
 8. The device of claim 2 further comprising: handle means for manipulating said lid when functioning as a dust pan.
 9. The device of claim 8 wherein: said handle means comprising a substantially tubular slot molded into said lid proximate to said deeper portion, an extendable tube of slightly smaller size and similar shape to said slot, said tube extendable from said slot.
 10. The device of claim 9 wherein: said tube having a stop means to prevent said tube from being pulled completely out of said slot.
 11. The device of claim 10 wherein: said stop means comprising said tube and said slot having opposing tapered predetermined lengths such that when said tube in extending to a predetermined point, the size of taper of each of said tube and slot prevent further extension.
 12. The device of claim 10 wherein: said stop means comprises a series of substantially circular cutouts positioned in said slot, said tube having retained in its surface a pair of opposing spring-loaded spheroids, said spheroids sized slightly larger than said cutouts, such that when extended, said spheroids protrude through said cutouts, positioning said tube in said slot.
 13. The device of claim 3 wherein: said handle is affixed to said outer surface of said lid by a hinge.
 14. The device of claim 13 further comprising: at least one retaining tab protruding from said outer surface of said lid and proximate to said handle, said tab positioned such that when said handle is rotated about said hinge and substantially flush with said outer surface, said tab retains said handle in said flush position.
 15. The device of claim 8 wherein: said handle is affixed to said outer surface of said lid by a hinge.
 16. The device of claim 15 further comprising: at least one retaining tab protruding from said outer surface of said lid and proximate to said handle, said tab positioned such that when said handle is rotated about said hinge and substantially flush with said outer surface, said tab retains said handle in said flush position. 